Is God Man’s Friend?: Theodicy and Friendship in Elie Wiesel’s Novels

Elie Wiesel’s novels - The Town Beyond the Wall, Twilight, The Gates of the Forest, The Accident, A Beggar in Jerusalem, and The Judges - win literary prizes in France, but often receive poor reviews in the United States. Lambert analyzes them clearly and cogently via two key themes: theodicy and friendship. She shows how the angry, embittered Holocaust survivor protagonists approach the God who seems to have broken His covenant at Auschwitz. This approach to God is made through friendships, some real and some mystical. Her analyses now render Wiesel’s novels accessible to Americans who may already appreciate his essays and memoirs.